By PTI
NEW DELHI: Maharashtra, followed by Manipur and Uttar Pradesh, have recorded the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in 2020, when 1.6 lakh people succumbed to the virus in the country. In 2020, the total number of registered deaths in the country was 81,15,882 of which 18,11,688 were medically certified deaths.
According to the ‘Report on Medical Certification of Cause of Death 2020’, the highest deaths (29.4 per cent) due to the COVID-19 was reported for the age group 70 years or above followed by 55-64 years (23.9 per cent).
As per recommendation of Indian Council of Medical Research, codes for covering deaths due to COVID-19 has first time recorded as a separate major cause group. Deaths reported due to COVID-19 has contribution of 8.9 per cent in total medically certified deaths.
There were 1,60,618 COVID-19 deaths in 2020 of which 1,14,217 were male and 46,401 were female. As per the registered medically certified deaths in 2020, Maharashtra has recorded the highest percentage of medically certified covid deaths with 17.7 per cent followed by Manipur (15.7 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (15.0 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (13.5 per cent), Uttarakhand (12.8 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (12.0 per cent), Punjab (11.9 per cent) and Delhi (10.8 per cent).
The report did not provide the actual number of COVID-19 deaths, state and Union Territory-wise. No medically certified COVID-19 death has been registered in Arunachal Pradesh and Lakshadweep during 2020.
According to the Union Health Ministry, as on Thursday, a total of 5,24,525 covid deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,47,857 from Maharashtra, 69,643 from Kerala, 40,106 from Karnataka, 38,025 from Tamil Nadu, 26,207 from Delhi, 23,519 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,203 from West Bengal.
The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities. As shown in the RGI data, the highest deaths (29.4 per cent) was reported for the age group 70 years or above followed by 55-64 years (23.9 per cent).
The age group 65-69, having class interval of only 5 years have also reported significant number of deaths (14.5 per cent). The percentage of female deaths aged 34 years and below as well as for 55-64 years and 65-69 years, to total female deaths are on a higher side compared to corresponding figures for male.
So far, 4,31,44,820 people were infected by coronavirus in India.
